What they do with the Gambia licence will depend on whether there is another prospective drill that could entice a major to pay for the next drill. No harm in trying for a free carry especially if they need to keep the company running to wind up the rest and collect money from Woodside.
If there is a Drill on the cards that would mean that someone is willing to pay drilling costs (45-60 million USD depending on depth etc). Our share is half of that so one would assume divesting our 50% interest should be worth half of the drilling costs. Option could be to sell out completely or retain a small holding just in case.
One observation. FAR is forever tarnished. The last drill didn’t generate the speculative interest you would expect. Probably doesn’t matter there are new directors – people will hear the FAR name and just stay away. Don’t hope for much in selling a minor holding in any oil field if they do find anything (we’ve seen what happened there previously) so I think most will move on from here.
If you want a speculative Aussie oiler with potential then maybe invest in PCL. This small fry is yet to make a discovery but suddenly finds itself holding a license with 75% holding in the latest oil hot spot in the orange basin (Namibia) where Total has made a multi billion barrel discovery nearby in a smaller FAN structure to theirs. From what I can tell, the Namibian Government has made their licenses much more fiscally attractive than the Senegal Government ever did for FAR for a royalty/Tax situation. The usual risks apply but long term FAR holders are well familiar with Risks. Unfortunately, risks of Bad Management were low in the list but appear they should have been much higher.
Can’t think of many more Aussie oilers with hot licenses? How does the FAR Gambia License stack up? Appears there is an active source kitchen nearby which is a positive – but we are yet to hear of any future target drill sites or what the potential is? Appears to be unknown – but I would guess they try to pick the biggest with most chance of success up front?
In the meantime – there appears to be hope of some money being returned for those who don’t see better opportunities elsewhere – so not all hope is lost on getting a portion of funds previously invested back or those newly invested might actually see a better return here than the banks if they are prepared to wait.
Cheers
FAR Price at posting:
79.5¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)
